Mass Effect is Strange - Codex entries
by debott
Summary: MassEffect!AU; A collection of various ME-style 'codex' articles about story and background of the 'Mass Effect is Strange' fanfic. First to mention, the brief, but tragic history of the planet and far-off colony 'Arcadia' and its struggle to persist through catastrophical events.
1. Arcadia

**A/N: These are own 'codex'-like entries in a style as it would be presented in the Mass Effect game and its official wiki.  
The planet Arcadia is location, where my own LiS/ME fanfiction-crossover takes place, so I wrote the following article for background info about this place and scenario, which is greatly inspired by LiS, but influenced by ME, obviously ^^**

 **contains no spoilers towards MEiS, ME, LiS; only a short prehistory for certain MEiS-contents.**

 **Parts of featured content belong to Bioware/EA and Dontnod/Square Enix**

 **For the article I used as a pattern for the following see: Mass Effect-wiki / Arcadia**

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 **Arcadia**

 **Location:** Milky Way / Exodus Cluster / Shambhala System / Third planet

 **Planet View**

 **Orbital Distance** 1.1 AU

 **Orbital Period** 1.1 Earth Years

 **Keplerian Ratio** 0.909

 **Radius** 6182 km

 **Day Length** 23.6 Earth Hours

 **Atm. Pressure** 0.97 atm

 **Average Surface Temp** \- 67,8°C

 **Surface Gravity** 0.92 _g_

 **Mass** 0.811 Earth Masses

 **Satellites** Selene

 **Colony**

 **Species** Human

 **Capital** Arcadia City

 **Colony Founded** 2153

 **Population** 23 000 (2169)  
9 000 (2183)  
(Pop. estimate is pre-attack and today)

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 **Description**

As for an earth-sized garden world with a breathable atmosphere consisting of nitrogen and oxygen, Arcadia is suspiciously unknown throughout the Alliance and interstellar space. Due to its slightly larger distance from its parental star Shambhala and its cool solid core the planet is mostly covered in ice. Only its equatorial regions allow organic life, which therefore thrives even more in this area.

Arcadia was once considered an old, dying garden world, since its surface temperature had steadily fallen during the last few million years, which caused the already small corridor of the survivable belt that is the equator to shrink even further. Recent analyses however proof, that the short but intense output of manmade greenhouse gasses will cause this temperature decrease to come to a halt in near future. This achievement though comes with the price, that Arcadia's nature and wildlife are still threatened by humanity's invasive measures and pollution of its fragile ecosystem.

Although Arcadia possesses plentiful known deposits of platinum and several other valuable minerals, it was barely noticed until the very end of humanity's first wave of colonization: Due to its great distance to the next mass relay in the Utopian system, it can take weeks traveling to this remote system, and therefore becomes unprofitable for necessary long range transport routes. In spite of that, in the year 2157, several thousand colonists finally tried their fate, concentrating their settlements at the most promising location, today known as Arcadia City, as it is the planet's only city ever founded.

Confronted with the question of why this world is still so underdeveloped and unknown to the galactic publicity and corporations, Alliance officials often claim, that the overall harsh environment and remote location of the planet discourage most colonization efforts. Arguing that it is simply outshined by closer more convenient colonies, such as Eden Prime. The unofficial truth however is, that the Alliance military wasn't able to repel a surprise pirate attack on the colony in the year 2169, as strategists never considered an assault on such a remote backwater colony. By the time alliance reinforcements could arrive, the unusually brutal attackers had already retreated after effectively massacring or kidnapping approximately 1800 citizens of the planets population. What they left behind was barely more than a devastated ruin stripped of large parts of the despairing population.

In the aftermath of the onslaught, many of the remnants of the population considered emigrating or actually left, effectively giving up on the colony. Industrialization campaigns got discarded by most companies, but a handful. Second to none of them is the 'Prescott Planetary Mining Company' (PPMC), today Arcadia's largest private corporation and virtually unrivaled profiteer of the planet's vast mineral deposits, becoming a small light of hope after the catastrophe.

Until today, Alliance internals to some degree even concealed the colony's existence, not being able to accept the defeat it had to experience. In 2183 however the planet eventually regains Alliance military's attention as a terse distress call once again appeals for help...

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 **Trivia**

\- "Arcadia is a region of Greece located on the Peloponnesus peninsula; in ancient times its pastoral beauty became a byword for idyllic, unspoiled wilderness."  
\- Mass Effect-wiki (article _Arcadia_ ; 28.01.16)

\- Shambhala, the star Arcadia orbits around, is named after a mythical paradise-like kingdom in Tibetan Buddhism, also known as 'Shangri-La'.

\- the name of Arcadia's moon _Selene_ is deduced from the mythological ancient Greece goddess of Earth's moon _Luna_.

\- the planet's physical data actually does not make sense. It is certainly not even possible in physical terms of logic to bring such a planet in existence. The numbers were simply thrown together by the lazy author to at least fit into the story of _'Mass Effect is Strange'_.

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 **Props to all ME-fans, who read this article with Neil Ross' (aka. the voice actor of the original codex entries) voice in mind. I at least did, whilst writing this ^^**

 **Btw, you might have noticed that Arcadia is, in fact, a real planet in the ME-series. It is a minor side planet, comparable to RL Venus, though, so I had to make major changes to in order to make it fit into my story of MEiS.**

 **Update 03/18/16: I just realized that a solid planetary core, like the one Arcadia is supposed to possess, in fact isn't quite realistic. A liquid core (like Earth's) is actually necessary to create a magnetic field in order to protect a planets inhabitants from cosmic radiation.  
I know that this is a fiction and I don't really need to consider such 'tiny' facts, but I still want to point this out, because most sci-fi universes/stories just give a sh*t about realism and I don't want contribute to those and their tendency to increase people's ignorance. *cough* 'Gravity' *cough*  
I'm already considering to change this little fact, although it would take me also to change parts of MEiS. :/  
**


	2. SSV Blackwell

**A/N: This article is less important for the MEiS-story than the first one, but since the Blackwell will be the second major location in it, I wanted to provide a backgroud for her as well. And it still contains some details about the story-plot of MEiS :)**

 **For the article I used as a pattern for the following see: Mass Effect-wiki / SSV Normandy**

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 **SSV Blackwell**

The SSV Blackwell ( **S** ystems Alliance **S** pace **V** ehicle Blackwell) is a Systems Alliance starship. She is often considered the oldest cruiser, which is still in active duty. That is because she is based on a prototype of one of humanity's first interstellar space vessels from before First Contact War.

The ship was built in- and named after the city of Blackwell, a spaceport in central North America that achieved an economical boom in the dawn of the 22nd century, shortly after the Second American Civil War had ended and the United North American States (UNAS) was founded as its result.

The Blackwell was the latest offspring of the Alliance's first fleet construction program and her original version was put into service on the 21st of September in 2153, four years after the foundation of the Alliance itself. She also took part in the offensive, that was tasked to retake the planet Shanxi in the First Contact War five years later. Since the Blackwell as well as her several sister ships were considered cutting edge technology by most strategists during that time she was furthermore assigned to the successful spearhed that ultimately led to victory over the Turian invasion forces.

These strategists, however, got disabused in the aftermath of first contact: Compared to alien technology humanity's first spacevessels became altogether almost immediately outdated. But thanks to the increasing and combined support by earths nations after the triumph of the war the newfounded Alliance parliament decided to retrofit and enhance the already existing fleet. The Blackwell included.

After almost a year worth of rebuilding the new ship could have competed with most current starships at the time, at least in regards of speed and maneuverabilty. But some people had tagged the outcome of these rebuilding measures a waste of funding and even compared it to "Frankenstein's monster". All because of the architecture of those refitted crafts, which mildly could be destcribed as "bulky" -especially in today's standarts- and the combination of old hardware with new one, which causes multiple "unpleasant side effects" as claimed by pilotes and engineers equally.

Nontheless the so-called "Blackwell Program" got instituted under the command of Rear-Admiral Ray Wells and the Blackwell was sent back into duty. New Captain of the ship became Mark Jefferson, also a First Contact War veteran, who was popular with civilians and soldiers alike and had helped greatly boosting the reputation of the program. Under their lead the "Blackwell cruisers" were acknowledged great success as peacekeepers in humanity's colonies and beyond. The Blackwell and her program eventually reached their moment of glory in 2176, during the Skyllian Blitz, where it once again emerged victorious from the battlefield.

In the years to follow, however, most of its prestige finally has diminished: Several sister ships of the Blackwell got destroyed in multiple guerilla attacks conducted by pirates and, to top it of, the by now famous Mark Jefferson was covicted of sexual abuse and rape he had commited on many of his shoreleaves.

Today the original SSV Blackwell is the only ship left of this once proud fleet, as all the others got disbanded and ultimately scrapped. Even the Blackwell herself often was considered almost a museum piece. But instead it was used long years as a platform for training Marines and new recruits. But -until today- it never was integrated in major operations again. After Jeffersons dishonorable discharge even command over the ship remained in Admiral Wells's hands, at least in respect of bureaucratic responsibility, although he never actually set foot on it.

But in the early year of 2183 the Blackwell eventually receives a new and unexperienced, but nontheless talented, Commading Officer.  
Sent off to her probably very last mission she could finally meet her fate...

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 **Crew and Equipment**

 **-** Commander Maxine Caulfield - Commanding Officer (CO)

\- Staff Lieutenant Victoria M. Chase - Executive Officer (XO)

\- Flight Lieutenant Dana Ward - Chief Helmswoman

\- Juliet Watson - Chief Navigator

\- Dr. Kate B. Marsh - Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

\- Lieutenant Brooke "Scotty" Scott - Chief Engineer (CHENG)

\- Gunnery Chief Warren Graham - Marine Detail Commander

\- Corporal Hayden Jones - Chief Artillery Officer (CAO)

\- 6 M-35 Mako IFVs

\- 2 prototype UT-47 Kodiak Dropshuttle

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 **Trivia**

\- The Blackwell was put in service on the same day as Commander Caulfield's Birthday. (What a coincidence!)

\- The UT-47 Kodiak is a vehicle of cutting-edge technology on the Blackwell. The assignment, which the Blackwell is commissioned to, also is the very first officially documented mission with the Kodiak in action.

\- Although cruiser-sized starships are considered not being able to land on medium gravity worlds the Blackwell still accomplishes this task. It is supposed that this is possible due to her overall lighter tonnage compared to current Geneva-class cruisers.

\- There is an almost frightening amount of female crew serving on the Blackwell. So far Warren and Hayden are the only two known men on the spacevessel.

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 **Just like said in the first chapter of MEiS: I actually don't know much about military rankings, neither in ME and especially not in real life. I just looked up some of them in the ME-wiki and put them into this fic as I see fit for all of the characters, who make an appearance.**

 **Anyway, the next entry I wanted to write was going to be about Max herself. But I'm not sure if I will actually write it, since she's already major part of the main story, so perhaps I should rather present her there throughout the plot. But maybe eventually there will be an extra codex entry about her as well. Dunno yet. :)**


End file.
